Enhanced ethanol production from wheat straw by integrated storage and pre-treatment (ISP)

Integrated storage and pre-treatment (ISP) combines biopreservation of moist material under airtight conditions and pre-treatment. Moist wheat straw was inoculated with the biocontrol yeast Wickerhamomyces anomalus, the xylan degrading yeast Scheffersomyces stipitis or a co-culture of both. The samples and non-inoculated controls were stored at 4 or 15 °C. The non-inoculated controls were heavily contaminated with moulds, in contrast to the samples inoculated with W. anomalus or S. stipitis. These two yeasts were able to grow on wheat straw as sole source of nutrients. When ethanol was produced from moist wheat straw stored for four weeks at 4 °C with S. stipitis, an up to 40% enhanced yield (final yield 0.15 g ethanol per g straw dry weight) was obtained compared to a dry sample (0.107 g/g). In all other moist samples, stored for four weeks at 4 °C or 15 °C, 6–35% higher yields were obtained. Thus, energy efficient bio-preservation can improve the pre-treatment efficiency for lignocellulose biomass, which is a critical bottleneck in its conversion to biofuels.

► Up to 40% higher ethanol yields from moist wheat straw than from dry material. ► Biopreservation acted as pre-treatment (integrated storage and pre-treatment – ISP). ► Scheffersomyces stipitis and Wickerhamomyces anomalus were promising for ISP. ► Anti-mould activity of Scheffersomyces stipitis was observed for the first time.